I very recently completed a course of treatment with Carac on my face for actinic keratosis. When I saw my dermatologist yesterday, he thought I looked great, and I mostly agreed. However, during the treatment, there was one spot on the side of my nose that didn't react to the Carac at all, but it bled and turned red when I put the steroid ointment on my face that my doctor had prescribed to help my skin heal after the Carac.

He took a look at that spot yesterday and we talked about it. It's been there for about 5 years. I asked my prior dermatologist about it and he thought it was just a "little abnormality". It has no pigment - it is skin colored. It is not very dome-shaped or raised, but it is thicker than the area around it. It is about a 1/2-inch long. It's almost most easily seen when I pull my nose to the side and that pulls the skin tighter.

I was afraid that it could be rosacea. He didn't think so ~ he said he believed it was probably either a sebaceous hyperplasia (fancy word for cyst) or some type of sun damage to the underneath layer of collagen. However, he recommended a punch biopsy just to rule out anything more serious. "Like what?" I asked. "A cancer of some kind?" And he said yes, although he felt the chances were unlikely. He said the biopsy would take 1 stitch and leave a little scar.

Having JUST completed this Carac treatment, and having had 2 shave biopsies on my nose in the past 6 months for actinic keratosis, I am kind of in shock that I have to have another biopsy! I told him I wasn't mentally prepared to have it yet.

Has anyone had a punch biopsy with one stitch - especially on your nose? Did it leave much of a scar? Will the results tell me not only whether or not it is cancer, but will they tell me if it IS a sebaceous cyst or something else? If it is a sebaceous cyst, does anyone know if these can be removed, and how are they removed, and does that leave a scar? I was in such shock, I didn't really think to ask any of these questions.